Workout of the Day

Jun 20

Why Tracking Your Food Will Help You Lose Weight

When it comes to weight loss, studies show that one of the best things you can do is track what you eat. Now, before you run off to download the latest food-tracking app because I’ve handed you the next great secret to weight loss (there are no secrets), let’s take a look at what’s really going on here.

Tracking your food, of course, isn’t the whole picture. Eating five donuts and not writing it down in a food log vs. eating five donuts and writing it down in your food log will have the same net effect on your body. You still ate five donuts. The difference, of course, is that tracking your food brings awareness. This awareness leads to habit change, which means that maybe you opt not to eat five donuts. Don’t eat five donuts and you’ll lose weight -- what a crazy concept. (Remember when I said there are no secrets?)

Full disclosure: my use of weight loss as an example was a cheap trick to get you to click and read. This post isn’t about losing weight, per se. But if we look beyond the immediate goal (lose weight, squat more, run faster) and look to the practices that will get you there -- wherever “there” may be -- we find a valuable set of tools and transferable skills for creating change. While I’m keen on the idea that there are no magic bullets or secrets in this game, I’m willing to say that awareness (and its friend accountability) might just be some of the most powerful tools you can have in your pocket. Pay attention, folks -- it just might save your life.